One Piece (stylized inall caps) is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated byEiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures ofMonkey D. Luffy and his crew, theStraw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the mythical treasure known as the "One Piece" to become the next King of the Pirates.
One Piece has received praise for its storytelling, expansive worldbuilding, art, characterization, and humor. It is regarded by critics and readers as one of the greatest manga series of all time. By August 2022, it had over 516.6 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it thebest-selling manga series ever and thebest-selling comic series in volume format. It holds various publishing records, including the highest initial print run for any book in Japan. In 2015 and 2022, it set theGuinness World Records for "most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author". It was the best-selling manga for 11 consecutive years (2008–2018) and remains the only series with over 3 million initial prints for over ten years, as well as the only one with every of its over 100 publishedtankōbon volumes selling over 1 million copies. Since 2008, it has consistently ranked first inOricon's weekly comic chart.
One Piece is set on the Blue Planet, populated by humans and other races such asdwarves (more akin tofairies in size),giants,merfolk,fish-men, long-limbed tribes, long-necked people known as the Snakeneck Tribe, and animal people, known as "Minks". The Blue Planet is governed by anauthoritarian intercontinental organization known as theWorld Government, consisting of dozens of member countries. TheNavy is the military branch of the World Government that protects the known seas from pirates and other criminals.Cipher Pol acts as the World Government'ssecret police. While pirates are major opponents of the Government, the ones who challenge their rule are theRevolutionary Army who seek to overthrow them. Thecentral tension of the series pits the World Government and their forces against pirates. The series regularly emphasizes moral ambiguity over the label "pirate", which includes morally bankrupt individuals motivated by selfish gains, but also any individuals who do not submit to the World Government's authoritarian—and often morally ambiguous—rule. TheOne Piece world also has supernatural objects such as Devil Fruits,[Jp 1] which are mysterious fruits that grant consumers transformative powers at the cost of becoming weakened in bodies of water, causing users to lose the ability to swim. Another supernatural power is Haki,[Jp 2] which grants its users enhanced observation and fighting abilities based on their willpower; it is one of the only effective methods of inflicting bodily harm on certain Devil Fruit users.
The surface of the Blue Planet mainly consists of the Blue Sea, two vast oceans divided by a massive continental mountain range called the Red Line.[Jp 3] Within the oceans is a second global phenomenon known as the Grand Line,[Jp 4] which is a sea that runs perpendicular to the Red Line and is bounded by the Calm Belt,[Jp 5] strips ofcalm ocean infested with huge ship-eating monsters known as Sea Kings.[Jp 6] These geographical barriers divide the world into four seas: North Blue,[Jp 7] East Blue,[Jp 8] West Blue,[Jp 9] and South Blue.[Jp 10] Passage between the four seas, and the Grand Line, is therefore difficult. Unique and mystical features enable transport between the seas, such as the use of Sea Prism Stone[Jp 11] employed by government ships to mask their presence as they traverse the Calm Belt, or the Reverse Mountain[Jp 12] where water from the four seas flows uphill before merging into a rapidly flowing and dangerous canal that enters the Grand Line. The Grand Line itself is split into two separate halves, with the Red Line being between Paradise[Jp 13] and the New World.[Jp 14]
The series focuses onMonkey D. Luffy—a young man made of rubber after unintentionally eating the Gum-Gum Fruit—who sets off on a journey from the East Blue Sea to find the deceased King of the PiratesGol D. Roger's ultimate treasure known as the "One Piece", and take over his prior title. Luffy sets sail as captain of theStraw Hat Pirates,[Jp 15] and is joined byRoronoa Zoro, a swordsman and former bounty hunter;Nami, a money-obsessed thief and navigator;Usopp, a sniper and compulsive liar; andSanji, an amorous but chivalrous cook. They acquire a ship, theGoing Merry[Jp 16]—later replaced by theThousand Sunny[Jp 17]—and engage in confrontations with notorious pirates. As Luffy and his crew set out on their adventures, others join the crew later in the series, includingTony Tony Chopper, an anthropomorphic reindeer doctor;Nico Robin, an archaeologist and formerBaroque Works assassin;Franky, acyborgshipwright;Brook, a skeleton musician and swordsman; andJimbei, awhale shark-type fish-man and former member of theSeven Warlords of the Sea who becomes theirhelmsman. Together, they encounter other pirates,bounty hunters, criminal organizations, revolutionaries, secret agents, scientists, soldiers of the morally ambiguousWorld Government, and various other friends and foes, as they sail the seas in pursuit of their dreams.
Production
Concept and creation
Eiichiro Oda's interest inpirates began in his childhood, watching the animated seriesVicky the Viking, which made him want to draw a manga series revolving around pirates.[2] The reading of pirate biographies influenced Oda to incorporate the characteristics of real-life pirates into many of the characters ofOne Piece; for example, the characterMarshall D. Teach is based on and named after the historical pirateEdward "Blackbeard" Teach.[3] Apart from the history of piracy, Oda's biggest influence isAkira Toriyama and his seriesDragon Ball, which is one of his favorite manga.[4]
While working as an assistant toNobuhiro Watsuki, Oda began writingOne Piece in 1996.[5] It started as twoone-shot stories entitledRomance Dawn[5]—which would later be used as the title forOne Piece's first chapter and volume. They both featured the character of Luffy and included elements that would appear later in the main series. The first of these short stories was published in August 1996 inShueisha'sAkamaru Jump, and reprinted in 2002 in theOne Piece Red guidebook. The second was published in the 41st issue ofWeekly Shōnen Jump in September 1996, and reprinted in 1998 in Oda's short story collection,Wanted![6] In an interview withTBS, Takanori Asada, the original editor ofOne Piece, revealed that the manga was rejected byWeekly Shōnen Jump three times before they agreed to publish the series.[7]Kazuhiko Torishima, then the magazine's editor-in-chief, explained that they debated for two hours on whether or not to serializeOne Piece.[8] Although acknowledging that it had potential, he was one of those against the work because it was "incomplete".[8] Torishima ultimately approved serialization due to Asada being so "annoyingly earnest" that another editor suggested both Oda and Asada would be crushed if it was rejected at that time.[8]
Development
Oda's primary inspiration for the concept of Devil Fruits wasDoraemon; the Fruits' abilities and uses reflect Oda's daily life and his personal fantasies, similar to that ofDoraemon's gadgets, such as the Gum-Gum Fruit being inspired by Oda's laziness.[9] When designing the outward appearance of Devil Fruits, Oda would think of something that would fulfill a human desire; he added that he does not see why he would draw a Devil Fruit unless the fruit's appearance would entice one to eat it.[10] The names of many special attacks, as well as other concepts in the manga, consist of a form of punning in which phrases written inkanji are paired with an idiosyncratic reading. The names of some characters' techniques are often mixed with other languages, and the names of several of Zoro's sword techniques are designed as jokes; they look fearsome when read by sight but sound like kinds of food when read aloud. For example, Zoro's signature move isOnigiri, which is written asdemon cut but is pronounced the same asrice ball in Japanese. Eisaku Inoue, an animation director at Toei Animation, noted that these kanji readings were not used in the anime series since they "might have cut down the laughs by about half".[11] Nevertheless,Konosuke Uda, fellow director, said that he believes that the creators "made the anime pretty close to the manga".[11]
Oda was "sensitive" about how his work would be translated.[12] In many instances, the English version of theOne Piece manga uses oneonomatopoeia for multiple onomatopoeiae used in the Japanese version. For instance, "saaa" (the sound of light rain, close to a mist) and "zaaa" (the sound of pouring rain) are both translated as "fshhhhhhh".[13] Unlike other manga artists, Oda draws everything that moves himself to create a consistent look while leaving his staff to draw the backgrounds based on sketches he had drawn.[14] This workload forces him to keep tight production rates, typically starting from five in the morning until two in the morning the next day, with short breaks only for meals. Oda's work program includes the first three days of the week dedicated to the writing of the storyboard and the remaining time for the definitive inking of the boards and the possible colouring.[15]
When a reader asked who Nami was in love with, Oda replied that there would hardly be any romantic relationships within Luffy's crew, explaining that he deliberately avoids including them inOne Piece since the series is ashōnen manga and the boys who read it are not interested in love stories.[16]
Conclusion
In 2006, Oda stated that he originally plannedOne Piece to last five years and that he had already planned the ending. However, he found it would take longer than he had expected as Oda realized that he liked the story too much to end it in that period of time.[17] In 2016, nineteen years after the start of serialization, the author said that the manga had reached 65% of the story he intends to tell.[18] In July 2018, on the occasion of the twenty-first anniversary ofOne Piece, Oda said that the manga had reached 80% of the plot.[19] In a television special aired in Japan in January 2019, Oda said thatOne Piece was on its way to its conclusion, but that it would exceed the 100th volume, also commenting that he would be willing to change the ending if the fans were to be able to predict it.[20] Oda noted that the titular One Piece is a physical object; when asked if the titular treasure is "family bonds", Oda noted that the ending ofThe Wizard of Oz, where the reward of adventure is the journey itself, is acliché he wants to avoid.[21] In August 2019, Oda said that, according to his predictions, the manga would end in five years.[22] However, Oda stated that the ending remained consistent from its initial conception.[23] In August 2020, Shueisha announced in the year's 35th issue ofWeekly Shōnen Jump thatOne Piece was "headed toward the upcoming final saga".[24] On January 4, 2021,One Piece reached its thousandth chapter.[25][26][27] In June 2022, Oda announced that the manga would enter a one-month break to prepare for its 25th anniversary and its final saga, set to begin with the release of chapter 1054.[28]
Written and illustrated byEiichiro Oda,One Piece has been serialized byShueisha in theshōnen manga anthologyWeekly Shōnen Jump since July 22, 1997.[29][30] Shueisha has collected its chapters into individualtankōbon volumes, with the first released on December 24, 1997.[31] By November 4, 2025, a total of 113 volumes have been released.[32]
Viz Media started publishing the manga in English through itsShonen Jump manga anthology in November 2002 and started releasing the collected volumes on June 30, 2003.[33][34][35] In 2009, Viz announced the release of five volumes per month during the first half of 2010 to catch up with the serialization in Japan.[36] Following the discontinuation of the printShonen Jump, Viz began releasingOne Piece chapterwise in its digital successorWeekly Shonen Jump on January 30, 2012.[37] After the cancellation of the digitalWeekly Shonen Jump in December 2018, Viz Media started simultaneously publishingOne Piece through itsShonen Jump service, and by Shueisha throughManga Plus, in January 2019.[38][39]
In the United Kingdom, the volumes were published byGollancz Manga, starting in March 2006,[40] until Viz Media took it over after the fourteenth volume.[41][42] In Australia and New Zealand, the English volumes have been distributed byMadman Entertainment since November 2008.[43]
Spin-offs and crossovers
Oda teamed up withAkira Toriyama to create a single crossover ofOne Piece and Toriyama'sDragon Ball series. EntitledCross Epoch, the one-shot was published in the December 25, 2006, issue ofWeekly Shōnen Jump and the April 2011 issue of the EnglishShonen Jump.[44] Oda collaborated withMitsutoshi Shimabukuro, author ofToriko, for a crossover one-shot of their series titledTaste of the Devil Fruit (実食! 悪魔の実!!,Jitsushoku! Akuma no Mi!!;lit.'The True Food! Devil Fruit!!'),[45] published inWeekly Shōnen Jump on April 4, 2011. The spin-off seriesOne Piece Party (ワンピースパーティー,Wan Pīsu Pātī), written by Ei Andō in achibi art style, began serialization inSaikyō Jump on December 5, 2011.[46] Its final chapter was published onShōnen Jump+ on February 2, 2021.[47]
Anime
Festival films and original video animation
One Piece: Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack! was produced byProduction I.G for the 1998 Jump Super Anime Tour and was directed byGorō Taniguchi.[48] The plot follows Luffy, Nami, and Zoro after they are attacked by a sea monster that destroys their boat and separates them. Luffy is found on an island beach, where he saves a little girl, Medaka, from two pirates. All the villagers, including Medaka's father, have been abducted by the pirate Ganzack and his crew and forced into labour. After hearing that Ganzack also stole all the food, Luffy and Zoro rush out to retrieve it. As they fight the pirates, one of them kidnaps Medaka. A fight ensues between Luffy and Ganzack, ending with Luffy's capture. Meanwhile, Zoro is forced to give up after a threat is made to kill all the villagers. They rise against Ganzack, and while the islanders and pirates fight, Nami frees the three captives. Ganzack defeats the rebellion and reveals his armoured battleship. The Straw Hat Pirates are forced to fight Ganzack once more to prevent him from destroying the island.
A second film,One Piece: Romance Dawn Story, was produced byToei Animation in July 2008 for the Jump Super Anime Tour. It is 34 minutes in length and based on the first version ofRomance Dawn.[49][6] It includes the Straw Hat Pirates up to Brook and their second ship, theThousand Sunny. In search for food for his crew, Luffy arrives at a port after defeating a pirate named Crescent Moon Gally on the way. There he meets a girl named Silk, who was abandoned by attacking pirates as a baby and raised by the mayor. Her upbringing causes her to value the town as her "treasure". The villagers mistake Luffy for Gally and capture him just as the real Gally returns. Gally throws Luffy in the water and plans to destroy the town, but Silk saves him and Luffy pursues Gally. His crew arrives to help him, and with their help, he recovers the treasure for the town, acquires food, and destroys Gally's ship. The film was later released as a triple feature DVD withDragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! andTegami Bachi: Light and Blue Night, that was available only through a mail-in offer exclusively to Japanese residents.[50]
TheOne Piece Film Strong World: Episode 0original video animation (OVA) adapts the manga's special "Chapter 0", which showcases events before and after the death of Roger. It received a limited release of three thousand DVDs as a collaboration with theHouse Foods brand.[51]
Ananime television series adaptation produced byToei Animation premiered onFuji Television on October 20, 1999;[52] the series reached its 1,000th episode in November 2021.[53]
Fourteen animated theatricalOne Piece films produced byToei Animation have been released. The films are typically released in March to coincide with the spring vacation of Japanese schools.[54] They feature self-contained, completely original plots, or alternate retellings of story arcs with animation of a higher quality than that of the regular anime series. The first three films were typically double features paired up with other anime films and were thus usually an hour or less in length. The films themselves offer contradictions in both chronology and design that make them incompatible with a single continuity. Funimation has licensed the eighth, tenth, and twelfth films for release in North America, and these films have received in-house dubs by the company.[55][56]
Upcoming original net animation
In December 2023 at theJump Festa '24 event, it was announced thatWit Studio would be producing anoriginal net animation (ONA) seriesremake forNetflix, starting from the East Blue story arc, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original anime series. The remake will be titledThe One Piece.[57] It will be directed by Masashi Koizuka, with Hideaki Abe serving as assistant director, and Kyoji Asano and Takatoshi Honda as character designers and chief animation directors. Yasuhiro Kajino will be in charge of the image board and creature design, and Eri Taguchi will be in charge of prop design. Taku Kishimoto will be in charge of the series scripts, and Ken Imaizumi and Shuhei Fukuda will serve as action animators. Tomonori Kuroda will be the art director, and Ryōma Kawamura will be the animation producer.[58]
On July 21, 2017,Weekly Shōnen Jump editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Nakano announced that Tomorrow Studios (a partnership betweenMarty Adelstein andITV Studios) and Shueisha would commence production of an American live-action television adaptation of theOne Piece manga series as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations.[59][60] Oda served as executive producer for the series alongside Tomorrow Studios CEO Adelstein and Becky Clements.[60] The series would reportedly begin with the East Blue arc.[61]
In January 2020, Oda revealed thatNetflix ordered a first season consisting of ten episodes.[62] On May 19, 2020, producerMarty Adelstein revealed during an interview withSyFy Wire, that the series was originally set to begin filming inCape Town sometime around August, but has since been delayed to around September due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. He also revealed that, during the same interview, all ten scripts had been written for the series and they were set to begin casting sometime in June.[63] However, executive producer Matt Owens stated in September 2020 that casting had not yet commenced.[64]
The series premiered on August 31, 2023, and was positively received by both fans and critics. In September 2023, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season.[69] TitledOne Piece Into the Grand Line, it is set to premiere in 2026. A third season was announced in August 2025.[70]
Music soundtracks have been released that are based on songs that premiered in the series.Kohei Tanaka andShiro Hamaguchi composed the score forOne Piece.[52] Varioustheme songs andcharacter songs were released on a total of 51singles. Eightcompilation albums and seventeen soundtrack CDs have been released featuring songs and themes that were introduced in the series. On August 11, 2019, it was announced that the musical group Sakuramen is collaborating withKohei Tanaka to compose music for the anime's "Wano Country" story arc.[73]
Fiveart books and fiveguidebooks for theOne Piece series have been released. The first art book,One Piece: Color Walk 1, released June 2001,[85] was also released in English by Viz Media on November 8, 2005.[86] A second art book,One Piece: Color Walk 2, was released on November 4, 2003;[87] andOne Piece: Color Walk 3 – Lion the third art book, was released January 5, 2006.[88] The fourth art book, subtitledEagle, was released on March 4, 2010,[89] andOne Piece: Shark, the fifth art book, was released on December 3, 2010.[90]
The first guidebookOne Piece: Red – Grand Characters was released on March 2, 2002.[91] The second,One Piece: Blue – Grand Data File, followed on August 2, 2002.[92] The third guidebook,One Piece: Yellow – Grand Elements, was released on April 4, 2007,[93] and the fourth,One Piece: Green – Secret Pieces, followed on November 4, 2010.[94] An anime guidebook,One Piece: Rainbow!, was released on May 1, 2007, and covers the first eight years of the TV anime.[95]
An event called "One Piece Premier Show" debuted atUniversal Studios Japan in 2007.[54] The event has been held at the same location every year since 2010.[101][102] (except in 2020, when the event was canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic).[102] By 2018, the event has attracted over 1 million visitors.[103] The Baratie restaurant, modeled after the restaurant of the same name in the manga, opened in June 2013 at theFuji Television headquarters.[104] An indoor theme park located inside theTokyo Tower called theTokyo One Piece Tower, which includes some attractions, shops and restaurants, opened on March 13, 2015.[105] From April 25 to May 18, 2025,Universal Studios Hollywood opened theOne Piece: Grand Pirate Gathering attraction based on the series, as part of the Fan Fest Nights event.[106]
One Piece is the first-ever manga series to hold a "Dome Tour", in which events were held from March 25–27, 2011, at theKyocera Dome in Osaka,[107][108] and from April 27 – May 1 of the same year at theTokyo Dome.[107][109] In 2014, the firstOne Piece exhibition in South Korea was held at theWar Memorial of Korea,[110] and the second exhibition in Hongik Daehango Art Center.[111] In 2015, aOne Piecetrompe-l'œil exhibition was held at theHong Kong 3D Museum.[112][113]
One Piece is thebest-selling manga series in history; in 2012,Oricon, a Japanese company that began its own annual manga sales ranking chart in 2008, reported that the series was the first to sell 100 million copies (the company does not report on sales figures before April 2008).[115] The series had over 300 million copies in circulation by November 2013;[116] over 440 million copies in circulation worldwide by May 2018;[117] 460 million copies by December 2019;[118][119] 470 million copies by April 2020;[120][121] and 480 million copies in circulation in forty-three countries worldwide by February 2021.[122][123] It reached 490 million copies in print worldwide by July 2021.[124][125] By August 2022, the manga had reached 516.566 million copies in circulation worldwide.[126][127][128] By 2004, the brand's merchandise had made more than $1 billion in retail sales in Japan.[129][130]
One Piece was the best-selling manga series for eleven consecutive years from 2008 until 2018.[131] In 2019, the manga did not top the chart for the first time in twelve years, ranking second in the annual manga sales ranking with over 10.1 million copies sold,[132] although it remained as the best-selling manga by volume in its twelfth consecutive year.[133] It was the third best-selling manga series in 2020, with over 7.7 million copies sold,[134] while volumes 95–97 were the 23rd–25th best-selling manga volumes of 2020, behind the first twenty-two volumes ofDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.[135] In 2021, it was the sixth best-selling manga with over 7 million copies sold,[136] while volumes 98, 99, and 100 were the sixth, eighth, and ninth best-selling manga volumes, respectively.[137] It was the fourth best-selling manga series in 2022, with over 10.3 million copies sold;[138] volumes 101–104 were among the 10 best-selling manga volumes of the year.[139] It was the fifth best-selling manga series in the first half of 2023 (period between November 2022 and May 2023), with over 3.5 million copies sold,[140] while volume 105 was the best-selling manga volume from the same period; volume 104 placed nineteenth.[141] Volumes 105–107 were among the best-selling manga volumes of 2023.[142] Volume 108 wasShueisha's highest first print run manga volume of 2023–2024 (period between April 2023 and March 2024), with 3.2 million copies printed.[143]
Individual volumes ofOne Piece have broken publishing and sales records in Japan. In 2009, the 56th volume had a print run of 2.85 million, the highest initial print run of any manga by then.[144] The 57th volume had a print run of 3 million in 2010,[145] a record that was broken several times by subsequent volumes. The 60th volume had a first print run of 3.4 million and was the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Oricon book rankings,[146][147] and later became the first book to sell over three million copies in Oricon's history.[148] In 2012, the 67th volume had an initial print run of 4.05 million, holding the record of the volume with the highest number of copies in the first print.[149]One Piece is the only manga that had an initial print of volumes of above 3 million continuously for more than ten years.[150] In May 2023, it was reported that each of the 105 volumes, published by then, had sold over 1 million copies.[151] Additionally,One Piece is the only work whose volumes have ranked first every year in Oricon's weekly comic chart existence since 2008.[152][153]
One Piece has also sold well in North America, charting onPublishers Weekly's list of best-selling comics for April/May 2007 and numerous times onThe New York Times Manga Best Seller list.[154][155][156] OnICv2's list of Top 25 Manga Properties Fall 2008 for North America, which is compiled by interviews with retailers and distributors,Nielsen BookScan's Top 20 Lists of graphic novels andICv2's own analysis of information provided byDiamond Comic Distributors,One Piece came in fifteenth place.[157] It rose to second place on their Top 25 Manga Properties Q3 2010 list.[158] By August 2022, the manga has sold 2.9 million copies in print in North America (including single volumes and omnibus editions).[159]
In France,One Piece is very popular and has been the best-selling manga since 2011,[160] with over 31.80 million copies sold by August 2022.[161] Its sales alone represented 8.5% of the French manga market by 2021.[162] The first volume had sold more than 1 million copies in France by July 2021.[163] The 100th volume had one of the biggest initial prints ever for a manga in the French market, selling 131,270 copies in just three days, the best-selling manga volume in a week in the country.[164][165] The manga sold 6,011,536 copies in 2021.[166] This amount represents almost 20% of the total sales in the country; almost one in five volumes of the series was sold in the year.[167]
In Italy,One Piece had 18 million copies in circulation by April 2021,[168] which represents around 22.5% of the series market outside Japan.[169] In September 2021, the limited edition of the ninety-eighth volume ranked first in the best-selling books weekly ranking, marking the first time that a manga reached that achievement.[170]
In Germany,One Piece is the second best-selling manga behindDragon Ball. The manga has sold over 6.7 million copies in the country.[171]
Critical response
Allen Divers ofAnime News Network commented in 2003 that the art styleOne Piece employs "initially seems very cartoonish with much of the character designs showing more North American influence than that from its Japanese origins", adding that the "artwork and settings come across as timeless in their presentation". He also notes that the influence of Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball) shines through in Oda's style of writing with its "huge epic battles punctuated by a lot of humor" and that, inOne Piece, he "manages to share a rich tale without getting bogged down by overly complicated plots".[172] Rebecca Silverman of the same site stated that one of the series' strengths is to "blend action, humor, and heavy fare together" and praised the art, but stated that the panels could get too crowded for easy reading.[173] The websiteactiveAnime describes the artwork inOne Piece as "wonderfully quirky and full of expression".[174] Mario Vuk fromSplash Comics commented that Oda's "pleasantly bright and dynamic" art style suits the story's "funny and exciting" atmosphere.[175] Isaiah Colbert ofKotaku calledOne Piece a "masterpiece", highlighting Oda's character writing, worldbuilding and the balance between "fun and serious subject matter".[176] Dale Bashir ofIGN wrote thatOne Piece is more about the worldbuilding, adventuring, and the meaning of freedom instead of the "usual shonen battling" from series likeDragon Ball andNaruto. Bashir concluded: "While not everyone would want to go so far for a franchise that isn't even finished yet, trust me when I say that it is definitely worth it."[177]
EX Media lauds Oda's art for its "crispy" monochrome pictures, "great use of subtle shade changes" on color pages, "sometimes exquisite" use of angles, and for its consistency.[178]Shaenon K. Garrity, who at some point edited the series for EnglishShonen Jump, said that, while doing so, her amazement over Oda's craft grew steadily. She states that "he has a natural, playful mastery of the often restrictive weekly-manga format", notes that "interesting things [are] going on deep in the narrative structure," and recommends "sticking through to the later volumes to see just how crazy andPeter Max-y the art gets".[179] Mania Entertainment writer Jarred Pine commented: "One Piece is a fun adventure story, with an ensemble cast that is continuing to develop, with great action and character drama." He praised Oda's artwork as "imaginative and creative" and commented that "Oda's imagination just oozes all of the panels [sic]". He also noted that "Oda's panel work [...] features a lot of interesting perspectives and direction, especially during the explosive action sequences which are always a blast".[180]
In March 2021,Mobile Suit Gundam's creator,Yoshiyuki Tomino, said in his interview thatOne Piece is the "only manga to trust". He praised the manga, commenting: "Still, we are working in the same studio and I saw storyboards near the photocopier. Unlike mine, those storyboards are good. But, you know, among the popular manga there is manga with very beautiful art and manga with bad art, but interesting nonetheless. And I don't trust manga with very beautiful art unless it isOne Piece.[181]
After the release of the hundredth volume,Weekly Shonen Jump's editor-in-chief, Hiroyuki Nakano, explained howOne Piece changed the history of manga and the way of making it. Nakano said thatWeekly Shonen Jump is "a game of weekly popularity", and beforeOne Piece, he aimed for something "interesting this week without thinking about the next"; however, the series reached overwhelming popularity due to its style that involved a story concept and detailed hints, adding that the series had a huge impact on other series. Nakano lauded Oda for his "overwhelming passion, talent and power" and his "unwavering will" to deliver a story to boys and girls, adding that he goes far beyond the reader's expectations, with the belief in "don't fool the reader" and "there is something interesting ahead of it".[182]
Awards and accolades
One Piece was nominated for the 23rdKodansha Manga Award in theshōnen category in 1999.[183] It was a finalist for theTezuka Osamu Cultural Prize three times consecutively from 2000 to 2002,[184][185][186] with the highest number of fan nominations in the first two years.[187] The manga was nominated for Favorite Manga Series inNickelodeon Magazine's 2009 Comics Awards.[188] In 2012, the series won the 41stJapan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize, alongside Kimuchi Yokoyama'sNeko Darake.[189] In 2014, the series received the 18th Yomiuri Advertising Award's Golden Medal.[190] It also won the 34th Newspaper Advertising Award in the Advertising category[191] and the 67th Advertising Dentsu Award in the Newspaper Advertising Planning category.[192]
The forty-sixth volume ofOne Piece was the best manga of 2007, according to the Oricon's Japanese Book of the Year Action Committee.[193] The series was chosen as one of the best continuing manga for all ages/teens in 2011 by critics fromAbout.com,Anime News Network, andComicsAlliance.[194] The series has been ranked on the "Book of the Year" list multiple times fromMedia Factory'sDa Vinci magazine, where professional book reviewers, bookstore employees, andDa Vinci readers participate; it ranked fifth in 2011;[195] second in 2012;[196] third in 2013;[197] second in 2014, 2015 and 2016;[198][199][200] third in 2017 and 2018;[201][202] second in 2019;[203] third in 2020 and 2021;[204][205] second in 2022;[206] third in 2023;[207] fourteenth in 2024;[208] and sixth in 2025.[209] It ranked eighth in the 2023 edition ofTakarajimasha'sKono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers.[210]
The German translation of the manga won theSondermann Award in the international manga category in 2005. The series received the award for the forty-fourth volume in 2008[211] and the forty-eighth volume in 2009.[212]One Piece won theAnimeLand's Anime & Manga 19th Grand Prix for the "Best Classic Shōnen" category in 2012.[213][214]
In a poll conducted byOricon in 2008 about "the most moving (touching) manga ever",One Piece ranked first in both male and female categories.[215] In another 2008 poll by Oricon, Japanese teenagers voted it the most interesting manga.[216] OnTencent's anime and manga web portal,One Piece ranked first in a poll of "must-read manga for the younger generation in China".[217] In a poll conducted by eBookJapan in 2014 about "manga that children want to read" for "Children's Reading Day" by theMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the series also ranked first.[218]
On June 15, 2015, it was announced that Eiichiro Oda andOne Piece had set theGuinness World Record for "The most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author" with 320,866,000 copies printed worldwide by December 2014;[219] it updated the record on August 4, 2022, when it reached over 500 million copies in circulation worldwide in both print and digital copies (416,566,000 in Japan and 100 million copies in 60 countries and territories outside of Japan).[128] The series ranked fourth on the first annualTsutaya Comic Awards' All-Time Best Section in 2017.[220] In 2021,TV Asahi announced the results of its "Manga General Election" poll in which 150,000 people voted for their "Most Favorite Manga", withOne Piece ranking first on the list.[221][222]
As part of an effort to helpKumamoto Prefecture recover from the2016 earthquakes, Oda helped set up 10 statues of the Straw Hat Pirates around the prefecture. Luffy was the first statue to be unveiled in front of the Kumamoto Prefectural Government Office on November 30, 2018. Jinbe was the last statue, unveiled at Sumiyoshi Kaigan Park on July 23, 2022.[224][225]
At the2020 Tokyo Olympics, Greek athleteMiltiadis Tentoglou performed a "Gear Second" pose before winning a gold medal in the men's long jump competition.[226] A gene in the fruit fly,Drosophila melanogaster, was named "Baramicin", partly taking inspiration from theOne Piece character Buggy. The gene encodes a protein that is split up into multiple parts.[227] TheBoston Red Sox hosted aOne Piece-themed night in August 2024 and hosted another in May 2025.[228] During their2024–25 season, theLos Angeles Lakers also had an event night collaboration withOne Piece.[229] A testate amoeba genus was namedAlabasta, partly in reference to theOne Piece Kingdom ofAlabasta, also known as the Kingdom of Sand, a desert kingdom located on Sandy Island in the Paradise region.[230] In 2025, the spider speciesDamarchus inazuma was named after theOne Piece character Inazuma, paralleling the spider'sgynandromorphism and color pattern with the character's analogous features.[231]
^Guan, Wuyuan (July 3, 2014).尾田栄一郎：航海王冒險再10年 [Eiichiro Oda: Another Decade of the One Piece Adventure] (in Chinese).China Times.Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. RetrievedJune 1, 2024.
^"Fans Chat with Oda Sensei!" Shonen Jump #84. Volume 7, Issue 12. December 2009. 32.
^ab"2 Anime directors' Interview".Shonen Jump. Vol. 5, no. 12. Viz Media. December 2007. p. 198.
^Ishida, Kanta (July 25, 2007).「ＯNE ＰＩEＣE」尾田栄一郎さんに聞く [Interview with Eiichiro Oda of "ONE PIECE"].Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Japan. RetrievedJuly 25, 2007.{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
^ONE PIECE1000話記念、ジャンプ作家が描く「もし〇〇が海賊船の船長だったら？」 [To celebrate the 1000th episode of One Piece, a Jump author draws "What if XX was the captain of a pirate ship?"].Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. January 4, 2021.Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2021.
^漫画『One Piece』初版300万部超が10年続く「驚異的な記録」 全世界累計4.7億万部突破.Oricon (in Japanese). April 3, 2020.Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. RetrievedApril 9, 2020.人気漫画『One Piece』（ワンピース）のコミックス第96巻が3日に発売され、全世界累計発行部数4億7000万部（国内3億9000万部以上、海外8000万部以上※42以上の国と地域）を突破したことが、集英社から発表された。
^"One Piece Manga Has 470 Million Copies in Print Worldwide".Anime News Network. April 2, 2020.Archived from the original on April 2, 2020. RetrievedApril 2, 2020.Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga has 470 million copies in print worldwide by the release of the 96th compiled book volume on Friday. That total includes 390 million copies in print in Japan, and 80 million copies in print outside of Japan across 42 territories.
^「One Piece」98巻で全世界累計発行部数が4億8000万部を突破.Comic Natalie (in Japanese). February 4, 2021.Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2021.尾田栄一郎「One Piece」の98巻が、本日2月4日に発売された。98巻をもって日本国内の累計発行部数が4億部に達し、8000万部以上となる海外累計発行部数と合わせて、全世界累計発行部数が4億8000万部を超えた。
^Mateo, Alex (February 3, 2021)."One Piece Manga Has Over 480 Million Copies in Circulation Worldwide".Anime News Network.Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2021.Shueisha announced on Thursday that the volumes of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga have 480 million copies in circulation worldwide, by the release of the 98th compiled book volume on the same day. That total includes over 400 million copies in circulation in Japan, and over 80 million copies in circulation in over 42 countries and territories outside of Japan.
^Loo, Egan (July 18, 2021)."One Piece Manga Tops 490 Million in Circulation Worldwide".Anime News Network.Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. RetrievedJuly 19, 2021.Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga has surpassed 490 million copies in circulation worldwide [...] That includes over 400 million in Japan and 90 million in at least 57 countries and regions overseas.
^Takahashi, Rika (1998)."One Piece". Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation. Archived fromthe original on February 1, 2009. RetrievedMay 19, 2009.
Romito, Joseph (2013). "One Piece". In Beaty, Bart H.; Weiner, Stephen (eds.).Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Manga. Ipswich, Mass.: Salem Press. pp. 242–246.ISBN978-1-58765-955-3.
Sasada, Hiroko (December 2011). "The Otherness of Heroes: The Shonen as Outsider and Altruist in Oda Eiichiro'sOne Piece".International Research in Children's Literature.4 (2):192–207.doi:10.3366/ircl.2011.0026.
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